DIY Quilt Labels

Most of the quilts I make are for gifts, so I always put a label in them.  And since they are gifts, the labels need to be custom.  For this reason, I've never gone the route of having labels made in bulk.  Here are a few tips to get you started on making your own custom quilt labels!

Quilt Labels

Charms Quilt for Baby Vivian

I've never purchased a charms pack, but have always wanted to try some of the cute, quick projects. The beauty of a charms pack is that you get a wide variety of coordinating fabrics, without having to purchase individual cuts of fabric. When a co-worker had a baby, I decided I'd give it a try.

Verdict? Love it!

Goose in the Pond Block - Blue & White Sampler

I haven't done much lately on the Blue & White Sampler I have in progress, but I realized that I hadn't posted my latest block, Goose in the Pond.  This is a 10 inch block that I really like.  The little 9-patch blocks are so cute!  The block is perfect for the 10 inch size because it uses a 5x5 grid, so each mini-block is 2 inches square.

Goose in the Pond Block - Blue & White Sampler

I found this block on Generations Quilt Patterns site, where the instructions are spot on.  They don't mention the 10 inch size, but have measurements for 7 1/2, 15, and 30 inch blocks.  Switching to the 10 inch size isn't to difficult.

See more of my finished blocks for my Blue & White Sampler quilt on this blog.

Farmer's Wife Quilt Assembly: Blocks on Point with Sashing

We finished our quilt blocks and I know you've been spending a lot of time admiring your blocks, but it's time to get down to the assembly.

Maybe you've even started deciding how you want to arrange the blocks, making sure that you have a nice distribution of the blocks based on value, color saturation, similarity, etc. If you haven't, you'll want to be thinking about this step. Once you get a good arrangement, be sure to take a picture so you can reference that when all of your blocks become a jumble again!

In this post, I'll give you the steps you need to assemble your quilt top using the traditional Farmer's Wife Quilt layout. This has the blocks set on point with sashing between, "posts" at the corners of the blocks, and triangles around the edges to square things off.  During your internet surfing, you'll see other ideas on how to lay out the quilt blocks and some of this may apply to those ideas.

Farmer's Wife Block Layout

Farmer's Wife - Week 39

At last, this is our final week of blocks for the Farmer's Wife Quilt-along!  We only have two blocks this week and they are definitely interesting blocks.

• Block 93 - Swallow
• Block 95 - Temperance Tree

Farmer's Wife - Week 38

Here we are in week 38 of our Farmer's Wife Quilt-along with only one more week left!  This week we are making two blocks that are very similar and one other that is fairly simple.

• Block 89 - Steps to the Altar
• Block 90 - Storm Signal
• Block 91 - Strawberry Basket

Farmer's Wife - Week 37

We are on to week 37 of our Farmer's Wife Quilt-along, with just two more to go after this one! We have three more fairly simple blocks for this week.

• Block 73 - Rainbow Flowers
• Block 76 - Sawtooth
• Block 84 - Spool

Farmer's Wife - Week 36

We are closing in on the last weeks of our Farmer's Wife Quilt-along and will begin thinking about how we want to assemble and quilt our blocks together!  While we do, here are this week's blocks:

• Block 52 - Hovering Hawks
• Block 71 - Puss in the Corner
• Block 72 - Railroad

Farmer's Wife - Week 35

We have more creatively pieced blocks for week 35 of our Farmer's Wife Quilt-along.  The blocks this week are:

• Block 48 - Homeward Bound
• Block 50 - Honey's Choice
• Block 51 - Hovering Birds

Farmer's Wife - Week 34

This week we'll be doing more HSTs and a few flying geese, and another set of almost twin blocks.  The blocks we are doing are:

• Block 41 - Friendship Star
• Block 42 - Fruit Basket
• Block 45 - Grape Basket

What do you do with your fabric scraps?

Sometime last year I started saving almost all of my fabric scraps.  So, you're probably thinking I mean anything larger than 2 or 3 inches, right?  Well, not quite!  Here's what I'm doing to recycle my left-over fabric scraps.

Fabric Scraps

Kansas Dust Storm and ET Phone Home Blocks - Blue & White Sampler

I continue to make progress on the Blue & White Sampler quilt, in between the Farmer's Wife Quilt blocks and the La Pasacaglia Quilt!  Here are the latest blocks, ET Phone Home and Kansas Dust Storm.  See below for more details on the complete quilt plan.

ET Phone Home and Kansas Dust Storm Quilt Blocks

Farmer's Wife - Week 33

This week's Farmer's Wife blocks are all about HSTs... and a little applique.  The blocks are:

• Block 26 - Cut Glass Dish 
• Block 27 - Darting Birds 
• Block 35 - Flower Basket 

Farmer's Wife - Week 32

For week 32 of our Farmer's Wife Quilt-along we'll be using just about all of the piecing methods we've used before and the blocks vary from easy to challenging.  The blocks are:

• Block 43 - Garden Path
• Block 77 - Seasons
• Block 99 - W.C.T.U.

Farmer's Wife - Week 31

For week 31 of our Farmer's Wife Quilt-along we'll be using various simple piecing methods and all of the blocks are 9-patch blocks.  The blocks are:

• Block 55 - Linoleum
• Block 69 - Practical Orchard
• Block 70 - Prairie Queen

After this week, we have only 8 weeks and 23 blocks to go!  Can you believe that with this week's blocks we've made 88 blocks?

Farmer's Wife - Week 30

This week we'll be making three more blocks for our Farmer's Wife Quilt-along using Foundation Paper Piecing.  The blocks are:

• Block 54 - Kitchen Woodbox
• Block 60 - Noon & Light
• Block 66 - Periwinkle

But, before you get started, take a minute to recognize that this is week 30!  The best news is that there are only 9 weeks left to finish all 111 blocks.

Hourglass Baby Quilt for Baby Butler

I've always loved the hourglass block and the way it looks when assembled by alternating the direction of the block.  When I decided to make a baby quilt as a gift for a co-worker, this was the perfect opportunity to put it to use.

Farmer's Wife - Week 29

This week we'll be making three more fairly simple blocks for our Farmer's Wife Quilt-along.  All of the blocks include only HSTs and squares.  The blocks are:

• Block 88 - Star of Hope
• Block 102 - Whirlpool
• Block 103 - Whirlwind

Feathered Star Block - Dissected

I'm fascinated by the Feathered Star block, as I think many people are, and I love figuring out complicated designs.  I enjoyed working it out, so I thought I'd share what I've learned along the way.

As I started to analyze the block and see all of the various ways this has been created, I decided to explain some of the variety to help understand the dynamics of this block. 

Farmer's Wife - Week 28

For Week 28 of our Farmer's Wife Quilt-along, we'll be making three more blocks, all rather unusual and all using Foundation Paper Piecing.  We are making:

• Block 78 - Shooting Star
• Block 82 - Spider Legs
• Block 86 - Squash Blossom